Warner Bros is celebrating another success with the release of The Conjuring: The Last Rites. This marks their seventh top-opening film and the fourth consecutive No. 1 debut for a horror movie. Early previews, starting at 3 PM, are projected to bring in an impressive $7M-$8M, setting a new record for the Conjuring franchise. Experts believe this could lead the film to earn over $40M during its opening weekend.
In comparisons, The Last Rites is outperforming other horror films like Sinners ($4.7M), Final Destination: Bloodlines ($5.5M), and The Nun ($5.4M). Past entries have opened even larger, with The Nun hitting a record of $53.8M. The entire Conjuring universe, which includes the core series and offshoots like Annabelle, has generated $2.3 billion globally, making it the highest-grossing horror franchise ever.
However, not everyone is loving The Last Rites. It currently holds a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is similar to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, that had a score of 56%. The latter film earned $24.1M upon its release, partly due to its simultaneous release on HBO Max during the pandemic when theaters were just reopening.
In recent months, horror films have been doing surprisingly well at the box office. For instance, Final Destination: Bloodlines opened at $51.6M in May, setting a new benchmark for that series. It went on to gross $138M domestically and nearly $301M globally.
This consistent success in horror reflects a growing audience demand for thrillers. According to a recent survey by Pew Research Center, 50% of moviegoers say they enjoy horror films, which is a significant increase from previous years. Social media trends show that discussions about new horror releases are consistently trending, indicating a robust community of fans eager for the next scare.
As the Conjuring franchise continues to grow, it’s clear that horror remains a powerful genre in cinema today.
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The Conjuring: Last Rites
